Current consumption of AC solenoids

The current consumption of an AC solenoid is determined by the inductance. As the stroke increases, the inductive resistance decreases, thus causing increasing power consumption. This means that a high electric current flows at the switch-on instant. AC solenoids consume far more power at the switch-on instant - at maximum air gap - than they do with the armature picked up.

Current consumption of DC solenoids

On the DC solenoid, the current consumption depends only on the active resistance (ohmic resistance) of the winding.